City refused to settle with Ellerbrook

LUBBOCK, TX (KCBD) - City employee Martha Ellerbrook is two weeks from taking the city to trial in federal court. Newly released court records shed new insight into the case. Ellerbrook requested mediation in July. She also requested an out-of-court settlement in August. The city rejected both.

Ellerbrook is currently the Animal Services Director for the city. She was employed by the city from 1989 through 2003 and lost her job due to cutbacks and the financial crisis at Lubbock Power & Light. In 2006 she applied to become the city's water programs coordinator.

The city turned her down in favor of Tammy Vander Kuy. Ellerbrook claims she was not hired due to retaliation because her husband Terry Ellerbrook, also a city employee, sued the city in 2006 and settled out of court.

Ellerbrook was hired in 2010 to replace Kevin Overstreet as the Director of Animal Control Services.

Some of the disputed facts of the case include:

Ellerbrook was the most qualified for the job

Ellerbrook helped her husband sue the city

The job description was changed to put Ellerbrook at a disadvantage

Did the city hire someone else for legitimate business reasons

At last check the civil trial is scheduled to begin Monday October 4th at 9:00 AM. It is estimated to last four days. (CLICK HERE) to see a PDF copy of an eight-page summary of the issues each side has raised in court records.

The Food and Drug Administration said that various gels and creams containing the drug benzocaine can cause rare but deadly side effects in children, especially those 2 years and younger. (Source: FDA)

The US Food and Drug Administration health is warning parents about the risks of teething remedies.

The US Food and Drug Administration health is warning parents about the risks of teething remedies.

(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin). In this May 23, 2018, photo, President Donald Trump speaks to the media before boarding the Marine One helicopter on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington. Two House lawmakers who are allies of President Donald Tr...

A briefing Thursday about classified documents will be for just two Republican House members, both Trump allies, as Trump and his supporters in Congress press for information on the outside informant.

A briefing Thursday about classified documents will be for just two Republican House members, both Trump allies, as Trump and his supporters in Congress press for information on the outside informant.

The passenger jet was headed from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, when it was was blown out of the sky over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014. All 298 passengers and crew were killed. (Source: CNN)

An international team of investigators say that detailed analysis of video images has established that the Buk missile that brought down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 nearly four years ago came from a Russia-based...

An international team of investigators say that detailed analysis of video images has established that the Buk missile that brought down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 nearly four years ago came from a Russia-based military unit.